Bra Tips And Tests: The Bra Strap Test

09/05/2014Jacqueline Wells

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Shoulder straps on a bra should rest flat on your shoulders. They shouldn’t cause dents or fall off your shoulders. Shoulder straps are designed to carry minimal breast weight (10% or less). If your shoulders have dents from your straps, then your straps are working too hard – you probably need a smaller band size to give your bra more support.

Here’s a quick strap test: With your bra on, drop your bra straps off your shoulders. Your bra should stay pretty much in place, but maybe move down just a little. If, however, your bra falls off, or significantly drops, your bra straps are doing too much of the lifting. Go down a band size (and up a cup size if the cups fit) and see what an improvement in support a smaller band size makes. And, if you are larger than a D cup, a bra with a band worked into the design that goes under the cups will give you even greater support.

Other reasons your straps could be slipping:

1) The placement of the straps on your bra may be too wide. Wide-set straps are a popular look right now and are common on push-up bras due to the fact that wide-set straps tend to spill breast tissue inward to maximize cleavage. If you’re wearing push up bras and are having this problem, you need to find a push-up bra style with straps attached to the top of the cups – rather than it’s sides.

2) You have shallow upper breast tissue so there is not enough tissue to fill out the top of your cup. This can cause your straps to slide down your shoulders. Putting breast enhancers in the bottom of your cup can move your breast tissue up and fill this void. Your straps should stop slipping off your shoulders.

3) The straps are sewn too far apart on the back of your bra for your shoulders.Look for bras where the straps are sewn closer together in the back. Also, if you are using a bra extender to increase your band size, you are also moving your straps further apart in back as well. This is exacerbating you’re your bra strap slippage.

4) Your bra straps are attached to a ring in front and/or back. This ring allows the strap to swivel and could cause the strap to fall off your shoulder. Avoiding this feature should solve your strap slippage issues.

The back and front of your bra band should be level and parallel to the floor when you look at yourself from the side in a mirror. If the band is too tight, digs into your flesh or is just plain uncomfortable, it’s too small. Signs that your band size is too big include breasts falling out from the bottom of your bra and your bra back riding up. A correctly sized band will fit firmly around you and not ride up in the back.

A new bra should be able to pass this test with the clasp on the loosest fitting-this allows you to tighten the bra as it stretches with wear and washing. Try to avoid buying a bra where the best fit is the bra’s tightest setting. My suggestion is to always try and buy a new bra that fits on its loosest fastening position.